Work Text:
A reddish-pink disarray of hair moved accordingly to the way the girl skipped down the aisles, tugging at the sleeves of what any normal person would have assumed to have been her hostage, with the way that his brows had pinched in discomfort from how nonchalantly she swept down the rows of options aligned.
“Wow I actually think this one would compliment your ugly mess of hair, Jouno.” The girl pressed a cardigan to the man’s chest as her euphonious voice sounded: his commander, who had, for the past few days been incessant on taking her bitter friend on a ‘small’ shopping trip for a wardrobe refresh.
The grand mall was bustling with the usual pandemonium that would have been expected, riotous sales people set up around every other shop entrance, avidly proposing the promise of innovative products, some of which participating or hosting colloquies that seemed to garner the most sufficient amount of attention. Each shop was home to a small sheet of metal above it — varying integers etched into the panels that hung over the outlets as makeshift signs with the intention of indicating an attempt of orderliness. These signs contrasted with how exquisitely decorated the exterior of each shop was.
A stretch of jewellery shops was aligned by the lingering security officers that stood and conversed ever so nonchalantly — similarly to the differing couples that were dotted around at the few cafes that filled the space. A vast seating area was present at the centre of the mall however, escalators leading up into what appeared to be Teruko’s main point of interest, the several boutiques in which she insisted the two of them would scan through.
“How so very courteous of you.” He deadpanned in response, taking the item of clothing in his hands just to run his thumb over the cross-knitted fabric.
“It’s like a—” She pushed a finger to her lip, pondering an accurate portrayal. “It’s a cardigan, but it’s a muted, light pink, but in the kind of, you know, orangey pink kind of way..”
“Because that creates a truly effective envisionment for me,”
“Sorry that I don’t meet your illustrious standards, your highness. It’s got brown-ish buttons, looks pretty gay, and I can imagine you like the material of this one since you haven’t complained yet.” His vice-commander sneered in response to the jab at her inability to narrate what was infront of her.
Disregarding the preliminary comment, he sighed inwardly, muttering something presumably derogatory under his breath before offering his response. “I’ll try it.”
Yanking on Jouno’s unpierced ear, she hauled the other man down to her level as for the other to feel her piercing gaze whilst she imposed a half-hearted swat to the back of his head as he yelped in protest, fussing over her sudden attack.
Upon noticing the contortion of Jouno’s face which had melded into that of a scowl, her own lips had curled upwards at the corners into a hollow smile. The retort was uttered into his ear as she hissed her complaints loud enough to warrant a flinch that derived from the sensitivity Jouno possessed.
“I have no idea what you just said about me, but I trust that it was negative. I will hang you by your ankles, Jouno.”
After being chastised to such a humiliating level, Jouno had since decided he was favourable of retaining his limbs, ergo obliging to every offer of clothing he had received from the girl. Alongside the consideration of the fact that he had taken Teruko up on the offer of receiving her help to refurnish his wardrobe.
“I think he’ll like this on you,” She lifted Jouno’s palm to set the pendant of a necklace in his hands, the metal chain falling over his fingers as he held it between his fingers, inspecting it until deducting the shape to be some sort of sun, several sharp points branching out from the centre of the pendant as the metal poked into his thumb.
“A sun pendant?” He queried, feeling the grooves and concavity of the necklace.
“Well to be honest you could tell that man to die one less time than usual and I think he’d come to me proposing how overjoyed he was.”
“He’s done that?”
“No, I'm just waiting for it to happen. The pendant looks nice though, it’s gold so it’d fit well with your earring.” She commented, adding the item to the basket she had initially snatched off of a rack propped up against the entrance of the building.
________________________
In due course, an entirely disarranged cluster of clothes, which formerly appeared to have been neatly situated on the hangers that now tangled within each other via the hooks, was hastily pressed to the man’s chest as the smaller girl yet again broke the tranquillity of the mall by raising her voice to a distasteful extent.
Teruko’s ever persistent notion to take the other for a wardrobe refresh was simply only met with his acquiesce upon the realisation that his wardrobe was in fact, for the most part empty — having to move around so frequently had never given him the opportunity or mind to think about what he would wear on the few days he had off, up until of course, the instance came to him. Masking the annoyance that derived from the girl’s company was a pretence he was willing to uphold however. All in all, Jouno appreciated the sentiment, however questioned the proposed motives behind such an outing.
“Right, the fitting rooms are down this aisle and to your left, I’ll be there in a second to see how you look but I gotta go rob the child I just saw walk past us, she’s got a Rainbow Dash plushie and I’ve since decided it’ll be mine.” The girl cackled before taking off down the aisle in the opposite direction, a skip in her step.
Whilst his vice-commander took to purloining a child of her belongings, Jouno took to the fitting rooms, his formerly worn clothes having been folded neatly onto the hangers. His meticulous approach was not to be unnoticed as he fixed the buttons of the light pink cardigan from the bottom upwards. Alongside the cardigan which was rolled at the elbows to display the sleeves of a chalky, unpigmented turtleneck, he wore reciprocal jeans, a faded blue in colour, as the necklace he now wore dangled over his chest. Upon pulling back the curtain, he was met with the riveting reaction that was elicited from the red-haired girl, who had only just gotten back from her own minor endeavours, the Rainbow Dash plush almost slipping from her fingers as she clasped her hands together, beaming at the sight in front of her.
“Oh wow you look great, actually.. I rate this one a good nine out of ten!” Teruko chimed, raising to her tiptoes as to inspect the necklace, taking it in her hand momentarily before stepping back. “The colours are exactly as complementary as I expected them to be! Another win for me.”
“Only a nine? After all that?” Jouno spoke, lips pursed into a pout as his arms begrudgingly crossed over, tucking under his shoulders, eyebrows lowered.
“If only I could paint your nails as well though, I’m sure that’d bump it up to a ten—”
“Absolutely not.”
________________________
This of course, was precisely the reason that Saigiku Jouno ended up sat at the small, circular dining table of his vice-commander’s apartment, who sat across from him, revelling in the overdramatic sighs of boredom that left him as she set about her work in utmost intricacy; which, in comparison to how nonchalantly the container of different shades of nail polish was thrown to the side, was great in its dichotomy.
His hand held firmly enough for the skin under the pinch of her own nails was harsh enough for Jouno’s skin to pale out of Teruko’s concentration, though complaining would result in an assembly of needling insults shot in his direction. In fact, the girl set about the action with such attentiveness that it appeared as though she was more prone to paying attention now than she ever would have been during missions.
“Stop moving every two seconds,” She jabbed, flicking the man between closed eyes upon the start of his nose bridge, causing him to jolt his head upwards.
“You’re insatiable.” He scoffed.
“Lucky for you I don’t actually know what that word means.” Teruko riposted, the tip of her tongue poking out from the corner of her mouth as she reoriented back to lightly flicking the flat brush over his nails, eventually dipping the matte black brush lid back into the container, swivelling the lid as to fasten it shut.
“You’re done?” He spoke, only to wave his hand back, feeling the cold air contrasting with the nail polish before the girl snatched his wrist, stilling him before proposing a lecture.
“Don’t just erratically wave your hand around after I’ve finished? Wait for them to dry.”
“At least tell me if they look good?”
“Of course they look good, I did it for you?” She spun around, jumping off of the chair and around the table to inspect her work before speaking again. “You are so fucking pink right now..”
“You told me you weren’t going to paint them pink?”
“I said that?” Teruko feigned contemplation, before ushering the other out of her door as to avoid any further questions that could cause a hindrance to her ‘grand scheme’, or so Jouno had labelled it. Quite an exciting moniker, might she have added.
Any mithering she may have heard was muffled by the closing of her apartment door, leaving the man to his own devices after making the brief reminder through the gap of the door as to wait for his nails to dry before doing anything, and that after his ‘date’ (of which Jouno was insistent on denying the naming of) that she should be filled in on every development that occurred between Tecchou and himself.
In the meantime, Jouno took to his own apartment, whether it be for the recital of the words he would offer to the other man or simply dressing himself in the newly bought, light pink cardigan, he would never come to openly declare.
________________________
After the turning of evening, and the several hours that had allowed ample mental preparation, Jouno’s pacing back and forth in his apartment was interrupted by the sound of the knocker hitting his door, twice. His lips tightened into that of a thin line as he clasped his hands together, sucking in a sharp inhale of apprehension as he soon came to stand at the foot of his door, hand hovering over the knocker. Jouno meticulously rehearsed his words — a feat he would rarely hold himself to in the presence of the other man.
Aforementioned contemplation was interrupted by the apartment door swinging open abruptly, leaving the white-haired man to speak his half assessed expression. The figure that now loomed over him had come into mind at last, Jouno soon comprehending for how long he had stood at the door, wordlessly.
“You didn’t open the door, so I thought I’d—” The dulcet, yet pestering tone of Tecchou’s voice crept into reality.
“Did no one ever tell you how rude it is to opt to let yourself in like that? What if I wasn’t ready, hm?”
“I was wondering if you were okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be? This is my apartment. Your intrusion was borderline morally wrong!” Jouno avidly pursued his annoyed demeanour towards the other man, arms crossing over his chest.
“Well, it’s not atypical of you to be throwing a tantrum at this time of night,” Tecchou stated matter-of-factly, almost slyly moving his hand around to rub a thumb over Jouno’s cheek, “and you’re one to talk about the morality of things.”
“Oh shut your mouth please .” He scoffed, jaw stiffening with building annoyance and the almost mocking gesture he had been presented with.
“If it makes you feel better about yourself.”
“As I was going to say,” Jouno faltered for a moment, soon realising his ever so recited speech had left his conscience entirely, “last week— I said I’d take you to the cafe that’s not too far from here. It's a walking distance too, I think.”
His head immediately ducked down, cringing at the admitted failure, bringing his hands to press into his temples, mortification swallowing him upon noticing how brutally he had stumbled over his pre-prepared words, that clearly came out more incorrectly than he could have fathomed, mentally cursing his idiocy.
Great job, Saigiku, your way with words never falters.
Before regaining the mind to emend his words, his nose scrunched up in the perturbed state he’d adopted as a new warmth came to cup his already flushed cheeks, his face coming into range of the light situated above the doorway whence Jouno begrudgingly tipped his head up, the golden rays highlighting his features. The shorter man’s bottom lip curled downwards as he took Tecchou’s wrist, peeling lithe fingers off of his cheek out of the irritation that had formed.
“Ah, you look embarrassed.” Tecchou commented, his tone managing to reveal the smirk that was presently gracing his features.
“Oh? You don’t say,” He huffed, uncrossing his arms for them to hang loosely against his side in defeat, “what’s this from you, an ‘observation’? Ha! Shut up.”
An artful smirk had graced Tecchou’s features when he intertwined his fingers with Jouno’s, locking their hands together in a forbearing yet firm hold, a slight tug insinuating that he was ready for them to finally leave.
Whilst Jouno was correct about the distance of the cafe, he hadn’t considered the awkward silence that would have followed — which in turn deeply prolonged the short walk to the small establishment. His only saving grace would have been a sudden barrage of insults, which of course, was considered, though quickly dismissed upon thinking better of the circumstance that he intended to make the best of.
Said silence was soon broken, though not in the most ideal fashion imaginable. Jouno’s foot had caught the edge of an up-pulled drain hole cover, eliciting a yelp of surprise as for his abrupt loss of balance whence he staggered, falling forwards. Almost instantaneously, Tecchou’s hand came to snatch at his arm, thus enabling him to regain stability as he was pulled into the swordsman’s embrace from behind. Water from the small accumulation of water that the shorter man had the misfortune of stumbling into still managed to splash up onto his jeans, though saving him for the most part.
Despite it all, he pried Tecchou’s arms off of him as he stomped forward to kick the puddle, intent on reasserting his authority over the minute body of water as a futile attempt of masking the arisen warmth to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. Tecchou had managed to stifle a laugh behind his sleeve, intent on asking if his partner was alright, though too late in his efforts.
“What the fuck do you think you’re laughing at?”
“Nothing at all,” Tecchou, upon presenting a now downturned smile, supposed his compliance would dispel any further deterrence of Jouno’s mood, “you’re welcome, however.”
“Actually, Suehiro , I would have been just fine without your help.” He hissed, face scrunching up in pique as he began walking ahead of Tecchou this time, regathering his whereabouts and concluding that they were in fact not as far away as he thought.
“Of course.” Was the simple reply Jouno had received, trailing behind the man who now wore a scowl similar in resemblance to that of a displeased child.
________________________
Tecchou had soon caught up as they neared their arrival, now walking at the side of his counterpart as they came to stop at the doorway of a cosily lit small building, an overhanging striped rain canopy was the first thing that the taller man had noticed, aside from the special’s menu that was plastered on the inside of the door, briefly looking over his options before pulling at the handle of the glass door, his free hand brushing over the back of Jouno’s arm as to signal that he could walk through and into the warmer environment first.
Wordlessly, the two were guided to a small table in the corner of the establishment at which they sat. They sat opposite each other, Tecchou reaching for the drinks menu as Jouno almost immediately propped an elbow up on the table, allowing his cheek to sit his palm with his head tilted to the side, a leg crossed over the other. His other hand also rested on the table, fingers tapping at the wood of the rounded surface, expectantly.
“Do you want me to read it out for you?” Tecchou queried, knowing better than to do anything before Jouno verbalised some form of agreement.
The other pondered for a moment, before raising his head. “No, I know what I want.”
Tecchou had hummed in acknowledgement, eyes scanning through the menu before setting it flat on the table after being approached by a waitress, a shorter girl, who gleefully offered her services, asking what the two would like to order. The swordsman’s gaze averted to Jouno, wondering what he had come to decide on, especially with such short time for consideration.
“An iced coffee, please,” he sighed, praying that Tecchou’s own decision was that of normality, but alas, such thoughts were perhaps too hopeful.
“And I’ll have mugicha with ketchup.” And much to the swordsman’s surprise, the waitress’ mouth was left agape for a brief second as Jouno buried his face in his arms, slumped over the table out of utter mortification.
“Erm— well, of course I can do that but are you— you want them together? In the same—” The girl spoke up, cutting herself off in profound disbelief.
“Yes.” Tecchou deadpanned, awaiting a response that happened to be a frantic nod as the waitress hurried off, pen and notepad slipped into the pocket of her apron as she made her way off to what he presumed was the counter adjoining the kitchen.
The cafe was generally well lit, the aroma of fresh coffee saturating the air. A cafe that follows a near monochrome of browns, like the way a fire feels when you heat up on a stormy night. The walls were embellished in art that not many could decipher the meaning of, even despite their beauty. It anchors little audience, but Tecchou looks like a beauty in the browns, so oddly fitting that one could look at him there and believe the little world this cafe harbours exists for Tecchou solely. Adjacent to the small table in the corner at which the two were seated at, a window barely open ajar had allowed for the occasional flutter of wind that permitted Jouno’s hair to waver in the motion, a sight held so dearly in Tecchou’s gaze.
Awkward silence highlighted the quandaries of their evening, almost unbearably so even in spite of Jouno’s usual found comfort in it. A few times had he opened his mouth with an attempt of lightening the atmosphere, alas not possessing the guts to do such a thing. Truly daunting for Saigiku Jouno to crumble like this, adorned under his partner’s careful scrutiny. Just before he had his own opportunity to half-heartedly break the quietness of the cafe, it was as if Tecchou had finally noticed the displeasurement that cursed Jouno’s features.
“You’re pretty.” He hummed, a smile pulling at his lips upon noticing the twitch in Jouno’s nose upon assessing the words, a colour not dissimilar to the dyed ends of his hair dusting his cheeks.
Dipping his head down, Jouno scoffed as to brush off Tecchou’s nonchalance, “You are so— ”
A clatter of a tray against the wood of the table had snapped him out of the moment he had since ruined the potential of, thus causing Jouno to jump half a mile in the air as a result of his unexpectancy, yelping when his knuckle clipped the bottom of the table, his hands flailing upwards in his dramatic norm. Regathering his thoughts upon noticing the return of their waitress who profusely apologised after realising her timing, he rubbed over the back of his hand whilst the girl promptly placed the two drinks on small placemats before making her exit again.
Tecchou’s thanking of the poor girl was met with a nod when she left, allowing him to avert his gaze back to Jouno again, who was still fretting over his now bruising knuckle as he rubbed it. A subconscious action of his had caused Jouno’s head to snap upwards upon feeling Tecchou take the aforementioned hand in his. A thumb rubbed over the slightly reddened area in a circular motion, a feather-light hold on the top of his hand as Tecchou lifted it to his face only just, his breath warm against the skin of the other’s knuckles before all too delicately pressing his lips to Jouno’s knuckle.
The white-haired man had felt himself stiffen at the action, unable to fully anticipate what had happened whilst his heart kicked in his throat, ergo swallowing any words he could conjure as he stuttered a breath though eventually managing to utter his thoughts. And even still, Tecchou’s hand hadn’t left his, and the realisation had only kickstarted the fluttering of his stomach again.
"Ah, uhm. Okay— I..." Jouno fumbled with his words, his senses shifting around the cafe to find a scapegoat to hide his awkwardness. "From what I’ve heard, I believe there is a lot of wood and glass work in this cafe. They’re highly wave reciprocative. Isn't stone more practical in this case?"
"It is!" Tecchou exclaimed, in a way that drove Jouno mad as their knees rubbed under the table from his little jumps and shifts. "The glasswork shows this cafe is of the early 20th century. Then, in the height of the modernization period, people believed glass to be the most easily sanitised material. It's interesting isn't it? Architecture is very interesting in general, I think. Like...like the shrines we go to on New Year's, there is so much of our culture in these little places."
Such tangents of Tecchou's had always reminded Jouno of how much he truly treasured the swordsman's modulated voice, his speech never failing to capture the same pleasantry as that of the low bamboo wind chimes that Jouno always heeds to, always enthralled by the deep yet melodious collaboration of tones that the light wood would clunk together to create. Tecchou's usual words were dismissed as indecorous hindrances to his poor ears, albeit beneath constant berating was Jouno's utmost admiration and longing to hear his partner speak again.
Sundry other near endearing habits Tecchou typically expressed had long since been listed off as flagrant or irritating actions, purely out of Jouno's inability to bite down his pride for a moment: something the man would always mentally chastise himself for. Such pride forbade the truth regarding why he silenced Tecchou so avidly.
Jouno shifled nervously in his seat, toying with the buttons of his cardigan with his spare hand, though soon breaking that trend by instead tracing the top of the cup with his finger around in circles as the nervous habit appeared to be a viable distraction for the man; not good enough however, as this time the man was aware of the attentiveness that Tecchou had paid him, addressing it accordingly.
“What are you looking at?” Jouno spat, head lifting to finally face the swordsman.
“You, and also the patterns of the walls in here.”
“God, you’re so fucking weird,” he grumbled, sipping from the straw of his drink before dramatically wafting a hand over his nose, “that is vile , can you please drink something normal?” Despite it all, Jouno still mused over Tecchou’s interest regarding the building itself.
“Hm,” the other man pondered, head tilting as he smirked at what he already knew was a rhetorical question, “what’s normal to you?”
“Anything but whatever that is,” he practically guarded his cup for a moment, a hand hovering over the outside of it as his lips evidently curled downwards upon smelling the disgusting concoction of a drink again, pushing his own cup to Tecchou’s side of the table, “here, moron.”
Tecchou quirked an eyebrow at the invitation, before frowning at the blandness of the drink that Jouno had set before him, though the other’s now crossed arms and overdramatic huff of impatience was a good indication that he best try it before Jouno tore his arms off. And so he did, taking the straw into his hand. And his face immediately scrunched up. Not quite in displeasure, however.
“What? Do you like it?” Jouno had asked, expectantly.
“I think it’s alright,”
“Well you’re not having any more because sharing that with you is possibly the most disgusting thing I could ever fathom.”
“I wasn’t going to ask.. I like my drink a lot more.”
“Fuck you too.” Tecchou stifled a laugh at that response, only heightening the other’s irritation as he rubbed near jeering circles into Jouno’s palm, tracing the lines that ran across it.
Tecchou desperately searched for a separate topic, intent on not souring the mood after the success he’d had thus far, “I like your nails,”
“Teruko painted them for today—” The compliment had thrown Jouno off entirely, cutting himself off as he prayed for his wording to have gone unaccounted for.
“Oh?” The brune’s smile only grew in curiosity.
“She wanted to paint my nails.”
“For today?”
"I didn't say that, Suehiro."
“Of course.”
For the first time, Jouno had left it at that, knowing well enough that Tecchou would not press the matter if he didn’t pursue the topic anymore. If he was to be honest, even the seemingly harmful comments and jabs at each other were passed off as lighthearted. They had reached a point of mutual understanding that no one else could possibly grasp, and without their various quarrels, Jouno knew they both felt as if they lacked what little normality they possessed as hunting dogs. That normality was crucial.
“Can we go somewhere different, next time… if you want a— next time?” Jouno offered a half hearted squeeze of Tecchou’s hand in response to his awkwardness, warranting a chuckle from the taller man.
“Of course, we can decide together.”
A pause. Jouno’s regathering of his thoughts being the delay at hand.
It wasn't often that Jouno was rendered speechless, though the sincerity and genuine thought behind Tecchou's words had always caused a mental stutter for him. Perhaps it was how his actions towards Jouno contrasted with the thoughtless demeanour that he had initially watered the swordsman down to. The amount of unspoken truths were ones that they knew well enough to cherish, though Jouno still craved the verbalisation of those truths more than anything.
And it was just as well that Tecchou knew to do so.
"Thank you, Tecchou."